Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a safety link for ship to shore-, shore to ship- and/or ship to ship-communications comprising a control module or control modules to arrange for emergency shutdown communication between an unloading storage facility for hazardous goods on either ship or shore and a loading storage facility for hazardous goods on either ship or shore. The invention also relates to the control module or control modules used in such a safety link.
Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.97 and 1.98
Safety links are known from www.vantagexp.com/industries/lng.html. This reads in pertinent part: “The Ship/Shore Link Control Module, for Emergency Shut Down (ESD) & Communication System are used in LNG terminals as either a main system or a back-up system. The system handles: 4 telephone channels Shore/Ship ESD volt-free contact signals Additional shore-ship ESD signals as required by certain US import terminals The Electric Ship/Shore Link System is designed for Emergency Shut Down and Communications. Vantage AF Series 37 pin connectors are used in this system. To ensure safe functioning during emergency breakaway all ESD circuits are protected by intrinsically safe techniques. The telephone circuits, which must not pass thru barriers, are powered from shore and isolated by shore relays which are switched by continuity loops from the shipboard module. The Vantage electric system can be supplied as a stand-alone, but can be installed in the same cabinet as the Fiber Optic Communications and ESD system.”
A similar system is known from www.trelleborg.com/en/marine-systems/Products--Solutions--and--Services/Oil--and--Gas--Transfer/Emergency--Shutdown--Link/Emergency--Shutdown--Link. This reads in pertinent part that: “The transfer of hazardous liquids between ship and shore necessitates the use of Emergency Shutdown Link (ESL) systems. Trelleborg Marine Systems has developed its ESL for LPG, ethane, oil and chemical gas transfer operations, offering a reliable link enabling rapid and controlled shutdown in emergency situations. The ESL comprises shore-side and ship-side sub-systems. These both possess a ‘safe area’ control unit, linked by fixed cable to hazardous area closures/control boxes. The hazardous area enclosures are then connected together by a flexible umbilical cable that allows the two sub-systems to communicate. The safe area control units are also connected into the ship/shore Emergency Shut Down (ESD) systems to ensure the correct and safe shut down of equipment in the event of an emergency. The ESL has an option allowing use in cases where only one side of the transfer operation is equipped with the Trelleborg's SeaTechnik™ ESL system.”
Accordingly, the prior art teaches a control module and a safety link for ship to shore-, shore to ship- and/or ship to ship-communications comprising such a control module or control modules to arrange for emergency shutdown ESD communication between an unloading storage facility for hazardous goods on either ship or shore and a loading storage facility for hazardous goods on either ship or shore. The known safety link comprises at least one of pneumatic-, electrical-, and/or fiber-optic-umbilical lines, wherein the control module is, or the control modules are provided with connectors for coupling the control module or control modules with said pneumatic-, electrical-, and/or fiber-optic-umbilical lines, and preferably voice communication lines, wherein the said control modules to which said umbilical lines are coupled are designed for bidirectional communication on each umbilical line between a ship type control module and a shore type control module.
In the context of the invention any reference to an electrical umbilical line covers both a vantage electrical link; a Miyaki-Denki electrical link; and a SIGTTO electrical link. These types of links are known to the skilled person and require no further elucidation.
In the prior art it is common use that a dedicated ship type control module and a dedicated shore type control module and the mentioned umbilical lines between the two types of control modules are set up separately for each individual case that a hazardous good must be transferred from ship to shore, from shore to ship, or from ship to ship. It can for instance happen that a ship will at one time be delivering hazardous goods and another time will be receiving hazardous goods. For this purpose each day engineers are flying all over the globe to locations where hazardous goods are to be transferred between a mobile storage facility (a ship) and a mobile or fixed storage facility (another ship or a facility on shore) to set up the required safety links between the two storage facilities. This is costly and requires a lot of manpower.